While I was deciding on what screens to create to print from I considered what materials I had available to me. The massive bag of fabrics I collected from a lady had so many clothes in it I wasn't even sure where to start. It made me reconsider how everyone goes about disposing of their unworn clothes.
I’m sure we’re all guilty of having clothes in our wardrobes that we’ve only worn once or twice. Or even a pair of trousers we’re waiting to fit into or a brand new dress that still has the tags attached to it. With so much clothing available to us, most of it easily goes underused and neglected. “There is an enormous disconnect between increasing clothing consumption and the resultant waste, partially because unworn clothes aren’t immediately thrown out like other disposable products.” (Overdressed, P.92)
Although it’s easy to get tempted by cheap clothing that’s available on the high street or online, it’s easy to overlook the damages fast fashion has.
One in three women feel like their clothes are outdated after less than three wears
An estimated £30 billion worth of clothes that have never been worn are hanging in wardrobes across the UK
Consumer culture emerged, with people being able to purchase more clothes due to growing incomes. Our wardrobes look incredibly diverse, with items for every occasion: work/office clothes, gym clothes, casual clothes you name it. Charities had to begin processing tremendous amounts of used but still wearable items. But now that clothing prices have gone down even further, charities get given more and more unworn discarded clothing. People tend to believe that they’re doing themselves and someone somewhere in the world a favour by donating clothes, because we’re convinced that there’s a person in our direct vicinity who truly needs and wants our unwanted clothes. Unfortunately this is anything but the truth, with charities being beyond the stage of selling this enormous amount of wearable clothing. With excess donations, charities also have to dispose of anything leftover into landfill.
The continual drive of ‘fast fashion’ adds to the waste problem, amounting to:
10,000 items of clothing being sent to landfill every five minutes
It’s not just the impact on landfill that’s an issue, it’s also the amount of raw materials used to produce the items that are going to waste. It takes around 1,800 gallons of water to make a single pair of jeans.
Social effect such as child labour in factories or derisory wages
Much of our donated clothing does not end up in vintage shops, as car seat stuffing, or even as an industrial wiping rag. It is sold overseas. After the prized vintage clothing is removed, the remaining clothing is sorted, shrink-wrapped, tied up and sold to used-clothing vendors around the world.
With all of this waste and unwanted clothing circling the industry I decided to make screens that were directly from the waste I accumulated. I started rummaging through the bag of materials that I collected from the lady and picked out a few items that I could photocopy with the intention of turning them into screens later on.
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